The New and Improved Lorelai Part II
January 2017
Stars Hollow
Seven in the morning and Rory was already was up and working. With her standing doctors appointment set for 10:30 am she had three hours to get things done, and she was determined. Presently she was wading through a plethora of work e-mails that seemed to explode overnight. After the e-mails, she had copy to edit, a load of laundry to wash and dry, and then she had to pack for her trip to New York. The 6:30 pm train was her goal.
The last month brought Rory a whirlwind of changes that seemed to put at least her professional life on an upward trajectory. The meeting with Moses and the Content Team at his design firm went very well. So much so that the offer for the position came only an hour after the meeting. Breaking the news of her pregnancy scared her, what if being pregnant causes them to reconsider? she obsessed. Much to her relief Moses didn't even bat an eye. "Lucky for you", Moses explained, "Our work here is deadline driven. We don't care where or when you do your work, as long as you get it in on time. So meet your deadlines, and keep your meetings and you'll be ok. Plus" He added jokingly but serious, "it would be illegal for us to rescind the offer based on pregnancy anyway."
She had only been on the job for about three weeks and she already felt at home. The subject matter, Politics and Popular Culture, was right up her alley. The election of Donald Trump and the reaction afterward made for some interesting twists in the direction of the project. She was juggling two projects at the moment, finishing up the follow-up work on the material that addressed events during the 2016 campaign, and a new look into the happenings of the election. The latter assignment meant setting up interviews with various players in the campaign, people in the entertainment and retail industries, as well as sociologists, political theorist, economist and other academics. What she liked best was that no two days were the same. There would be an interview with Lorne Michaels one day and Fredrick M. Hess on another. Through her work she was able to delve into other forms of media other than print, learning about the mechanics of video interviews, editing, and voiceover work. The work also gave Rory the opportunity to reconnect with friends and professional contacts from the days covering the Obama campaign, many of whom she discovered, were having their struggles as well. It was exhilarating being in a room with like-minded people, researching and debating, writing and editing, and seeing her ideas come to life.
The Gazette also became a point of pride. Resistance to change by the staff, as well as seemingly arbitrary regulatory requirements imposed by Taylor made Rory's efforts to bring The Gazette to the twenty-first century proved much more of a challenge than she had anticipated. Yet, she was
steadfast in her resolve and her efforts paid off. Thanks to some equipment donations and some seed money from the small business association of the State of Connecticut, Rory was able to upgrade the computers. She tapped into the talents of the Thirty-Something Gang who used their talents to get a website up and running. The popularity of the poem inspired Rory to open the site for other contributions. With some help from Jess, Rory networked with the regional poetry/literary community, including the works of their membership in the monthly publishing of the Gazette. This new avenue for expression brought in interest outside of Stars Hallow garnering advertisements on the website and paper and thus allowing the Gazette to generate a small profit, the first in over 20 years. The income generated from advertising allowed for Rory to hire a part-time intern to take over the day-to-day operations (another Thirty-Something Gang member who decided to go back to school for his masters) while Rory retained the title of Managing Editor.
Then there was the book which, unfortunately with all that was going on, suffered. Rory had ten chapters written. While she used her new job as the excuse, the real reason was that she had hit a wall. "It seems funny that I am blocked about this story since it's based on my life," Rory lamented to Jess at Christmas dinner.
"Why do you think you are blocked?" Jess asked, "Is it pregnancy stress?"
"No, in fact, it was during the stress that I wrote the most. It's missing something, I just can't quite put my finger on it."
"Well let me read what you have so far and maybe I can help."
"No. No offense, but I think I need an outside opinion to look at it. You are part of the story, and I need objectivity."
"Fair enough. I can see if I can find someone who can give your manuscript a glance." "Thank you, that would be great."
In addition to the job success, Rory also found a new place to live. Finding it proved to be both a happy accident and a negotiating coup. One day, overwhelmed by fatigue, Esther caught Rory asleep at her desk when she returned back to work after lunch. 'Why are you sleeping here when you have the snooze nest upstairs?" she scolded as she opened the file cabinet.
"The snooze nest?"
"Yes, it was where Bernie used to take his afternoon naps."
Rory went to the second floor of The Gazette building to find the skeleton of an efficiency apartment. About 1000 square feet, it had a kitchenette (minus the appliances), and a small bathroom with a missing wall, but enough room to carve out areas for a bed, sitting room, and an office space. The room reminded her of the shed that she and Lorelai shared when they lived at the Independence Inn. It was perfect.
Rory's title property research found that the owner of the building was a holding company that could be traced back to Taylor ("I did it for tax purposes. It's all legal, albeit admittingly not entirely ethical.") With that leverage, along with her success with The Gazette, Rory was able to not only convince Taylor to rent the space, but also negotiate a very favorable rental rate (plus water and heat and brand new appliances.) Tom and Luke inspected the property determining that bones, electrical and plumbing were solid. The day after Christmas, Luke and Jess proceeded to build a new wall around Rory's bathroom. Jess hung around town a bit longer and helped Rory put up blinds and curtains, line her kitchen shelves with contact paper, clean up the floors and paint the walls. The emptying of the Gilmore house gave Rory cookware (which she hardly used) a microwave, mismatched dishes, glassware, and cutlery. Rory was also able to claim her bed, as well as linens, and other miscellaneous household items. Best of all, with her first paycheck, she bought a brand new sofa bed for her living room and was able to move her grandfather's desk and chair and other items from his study into her new office area. By the time the new year came around, Rory was all moved in. "Why move out if you are not there half the time?" Lorelai sarcastically whined and she carried boxes of books up the stairs to her Rory's apartment. "I need a place of my own, Virginia Wolf said it's good for me."
"Well if Virginia said it, it must be true! So please remind me of your schedule again?"
"I will be spending long weekends here, and mid-week in New York. I will leave for New York on Monday nights and return to Stars Hollow Thursday evening or Friday morning, depending on that I can get done."
"And you're really going to stay with Paris?"
"Yes, with her and Doyle back together, Paris said she needs a buffer. Doyles is overdoing the dutiful husband/father thing and it's making her crazy. Plus I 'balance out the nanny', according to her."
"You're such the modern busy woman. It's a good thing you don't cook or else we would never see you."
"Well, I need to keep busy. Busy is what's keeping me sane,"
It was true, Rory's schedule was packed, but she liked it that way. Reflecting on her schedule she realized that she had almost every minute of her life filled with a task. Yet, she wasn't stressed about it as felt good to have steady work that brought her great satisfaction. She also admitted that being so busy brought a welcome distraction from other matters in her life, namely Logan and the baby.